In-Sight: Creating the False Self (4)

Richard Rohr has posted the fourth “ego split” which results in the creation of the false self…

The Fourth Split: Acceptable Self from Unacceptable Self

The final split is the split of the acceptable self (persona) from the unacceptable self (shadow). What this split tries to accomplish is allowing us to identify with an idealized, more acceptable image of ourselves. We identify with what our group or tribe says is admirable.

For the Franciscan mystics, there is no idealization of the self. Francis wore a habit with many patches and said, “I’ve got to wear patches on the outside to let everybody know what I’m like on the inside.” Now that’s a facing of the shadow. He’s saying, “There’s no disguising that I’m a weak person, and I don’t want you to think I’m better than I really am.” That translated into an identification with the poor, the marginalized, and…